"VAN" (Sports Desk - 26.07.2026) :: A total of 13 nations won medals on the first day of finals at the 2026 World Rowing Under 23 Championships in Duisburg, Germany, with Australia ending the day on top of the table.
A rush of three gold medals in the opening three finals plus two silver medals means Australia have already far exceeded their 2025 haul of one gold and one bronze.
Susannah Lutze opened the tally for her nation with the PR3 under 23 women’s single sculls title in a World Rowing Under 23 Championships Best Time of 08:09.04. Her teammate Sam Stunell then defended his 2025 title in the PR3 under 23 men’s single sculls, also in a World Rowing Under 23 Championships Best Time – 7:27.73.
Lucy Searle and Imogen Grey continued the Australian medal rush with their nation’s first-ever title in the under 23 women’s pair, winning by almost 10 seconds in a dominant performance. Australia added silver medals in the under 23 men’s pair and under 23 men’s four.
In the latter event the Australian men set off hard but were overhauled by Great Britain, who worked their way into the lead by 1500m to eventually claim victory by nearly three seconds. The British under 23 men’s quadruple sculls crew raced a similar profile to win their final, ahead of a popular silver medal for hosts Germany.
The under 23 women’s four and quadruple sculls finals came down to head-to-head battles between the USA and Great Britain, with the USA ending Britain’s title defences in both events. It was the first time the USA have won an under 23 women’s quadruple sculls medal since 2007. The USA men picked up bronze in the under 23 four.
Greece also ended day 1 with two gold medals, as Dimitra Kontou and Eleni Diavati won the under 23 women’s double sculls and Alexandros Chatziavgoustidis and Andreas Bourkas picked up the under 23 men’s pair title.
It was Kontou’s fourth under 23 title, after winning the under 23 lightweight women’s double sculls in 2023 and 2024 and the under 23 women’s double sculls in 2025. She has a chance for another medal in Duisburg, as she will race again in the debut under 23 mixed double sculls final on Sunday. That event raced its heats on Saturday afternoon.
Portugal’s under 23 men’s double sculls crew of Pedro Rodrigues and Tomas Neves made history with their nation’s first-ever under 23 gold medal. The duo paced their final well to scull through Romania and Germany in the last 500m.
Spain’s under 23 women’s four rowed a strong race from lane 6 to claim bronze, their nation’s first medal in this event, and Rocio Fraguela picked up silver in the PR3 under 23 women’s single sculls.
Meanwhile three 16-year-olds went away with medals after Saturday’s racing, marking themselves as ones to watch. Uzbekistan’s Akbarali Abduvaliev took bronze in the PR3 under 23 men’s single sculls, and Tatiana Cherkasova and Aleksandra Grigoreva (AIN2) won silver in the under 23 women’s double sculls.
Racing in Duisburg concludes on Sunday from 09:05 CEST with the remaining finals A and B, including the inaugural finals for the under 23 mixed double sculls and under 23 mixed eight.
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